Using Camping Supplies at Home

In another life, I spent my days happily without the comforts of computers. I'm quite sure my home was a chic log cabin, and I lived off the earth and with the help and friendship of my neighbors.

Of course, my real life doesn't look much like that except for the few glorious weekends a year I find myself holed up in a tent in the woods.

That's why I try to bring camping supplies into my at-home life as much as possible. Here's a few ideas for you to do the same.

Farmer's Market Camp Stove Cafe

Cook with your camp grill. Just because you're at home with the luxury of a full stove and a barbecue grill doesn't mean you have to use them. Try setting up a camp stove grilling station in the back yard and make a classic frontier dish! It makes for a more intimate and fun setting, and it's a great way to test out a new recipe before you go camping.

Mickey, pictured here, started his own farmer's market cafe stand in Houston. He makes omelettes and breakfast tacos on his Coleman stove every Saturday morning and buys ingredients, like cage-free eggs and coffee beans, from the other vendors around him.

Use oil lamps. While eating dinner, curling up with a good book or chatting with friends, light candles and oil lamps to cozy up your home. They look great anywhere, especially in front of mirrors that amplify their soft glow.

Kebab-ify everything! Got your camp skewers handy? Toast marshmallows over the fire in your fireplace, and cook chicken and veggies over your fire pit in the back yard! Make a party of it!

Pitch a tent in the back yard — or in the house! Confession: when I got the camping bug as a kid, I'd pitch my tent in our finished basement and stay down there for a week or two. I'd drag down all my books and blankets and enjoy the cooler temperatures downstairs.

Another confession: I totally tested out my newest tent with my girlfriends on my birthday in our living room. I've also totally camped out in a friend's back yard. What starts as a chance to make sure you know how to efficiently set up your latest equipment doesn't have to stay that way. Go for it. Tents deserve more love!

What ideas for using camping supplies at home do you have? And have you ever pitched a tent and slept in it at home? Let me know in the comments!

Where We Are

Cedar Crest, New Mexico

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